how events & venues are innovating · • events need to raise the bar each year and upgrade...
TRANSCRIPT
Michael Hughes, Managing Director Research & Consulting
How Events & Venues are Innovating
Event & Venue Management Innovation Studies
About the Studies
• Two surveys were conducted by Access Intelligence Research & Consulting and
the Event Marketing Institute between October 2015 and February 2016.
1.) Event Management Innovation – groups surveyed: associations with
conventions, for-profit exhibition organizers and conference producers. The
survey received 134 responses.
2.) Venue Management Innovation – groups surveyed: leading convention
centers and exhibition halls. The survey received 61 responses, including half of
the top 50 North American convention centers by exhibit space.
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Definition of Innovation & Key Issues for Major Events & Venues
Definition: Innovation is a new idea, or more-effective device or process.
Innovation can be viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new
requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs. This is
accomplished through more effective products, processes, services, technologies,
or business models that are readily available to markets, governments and
society. – Source: Wikipedia
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Key Issues:
• Events need to raise the bar each year and upgrade the experience. There’s
considerable competition from other media and for attendees’ time.
• Major conventions and exhibitions usually do not have a direct, head-to-
head event competitor – so they have to compete with themselves, and innovate!
• In contrast, convention centers are extremely competitive.
Event Management Innovation Study
Key Insights
• The main focus is enhancing the on-site attendee experience.
• The second: attendee marketing and communications, to drive attendance.
• The top three sources of new ideas are:
1.) Staff discussions
2.) Event industry media
3.) Attendee surveys
• The main challenges are simply generating good ideas, setting
implementation plans, costs, and getting support from various stakeholders.
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Importance of Innovation to Event Producers
Innovation is considered extremely or very important to a total of 82% of event producers.
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Event Producers with an Important
Innovation Over Last Two Years
Event Areas of Innovation & New Idea Focus
The focus is on adding value to attendees in nearly every event area.
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Why Attendees Attend • Networking
• Education
• Stay on top of trends
• Source product/services
Sources of Innovations & New Ideas
The top three sources of new ideas are staff, event industry media, and attendee surveys.
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Less than half of event producers review other events
directly for ideas. And too few survey their exhibitors.
Innovations & News Ideas, Select Responses
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• “Attendee networking (rest and learn) in lounge area.”
• "Innovation stage demo style platform within trade show floor.”
• “Concierge matchmaking for sellers to meet prospective buyers.”
• “Conference App.”
• “Digital Photography that auto sends to attendees social media via RFID capture
of data.”
• “iBeacons.”
• “Instead of a keynote or panelist general session, we did a full-scale live
emergency response drill that engaged our participants.”
• “Pre-arranged one-to-one meetings, education on the tradeshow floor.”
Summary
• Attendee experience
• Education & networking
• Digital
Challenges, Select Responses
• “Budget and measurement of ROI.”
• “Budget, ownership of the innovation (champion/implementer).”
• “Cost and time for implementation.”
• “Ending legacy programs to make room and resources available for new and
innovative.”
• “Creating the time to try, test and implement a new concept. Then letting it run its
course before killing it if the concept does not produce expected revenue or results.”
• “Failing to ask the necessary probing questions to get on track with client needs and
goals; financial resources to implement innovative ideas as well as prioritization of which
ones to implement now vs. next time.”
• “Finding the right idea\interactive element that really resonates with attendees.”
• “Getting stakeholders on board. Creating value for new idea before it has proven
successful.”
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Summary
• Cost
• Meaningful ideas
• Staffing
Industry Areas that Need More Innovation, Select Responses
• “Accessing other attendees; more ways to market successfully.”
• “Attendee and exhibitor experience.”
• “Attendee/Exhibitor engagement.”
• “Content delivery to large format audiences.”
• “Digital lead generation and onsite input of event measurement data points.”
• “Event experience for the attendee; Exhibitor ROI metrics.”
• “How to better manage and lower costs of exhibiting: material handling, labor, etc.”
• “More excitement on the tradeshow floor.”
• “More focus on the result of event participation.”
• “One-on-one appointment matching, registration and app; one seamless solution.”
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Summary
• Attendance marketing
• Engagement
• Experience
Venue Management Innovation Study
Venues: Key Insights
• Enhancing the client and attendee experience is the number one area of
innovation – followed by telecom and technology services.
• Top sources of new ideas are:
1.) Staff discussions
2.) Other venues
3.) Venue industry associations
• The main challenges to innovating are budgets/costs and implementation.
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Venues: Importance of Innovation to Organization
Innovation is considered extremely or very important to a total of 94% of venue managers.
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Venues with an Important
Innovation Over Last Two Years
Venues: Areas of Innovation & New Idea Focus
The focus is on enhancing the client and venue-user experience, followed by
telecommunications and technology, F&B, signage, AV services and enhanced marketing.
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The Big Three
Secondary Focus
Venues: Sources of Innovations & New Ideas
The top three sources of new ideas are staff, other venues and venue industry associations.
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Venues do more competitive benchmarking, and
have more key partners than most events.
Venues: Innovation Examples, Select Responses
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• “Built the Meeting Room of the Future.”
• “Charging stations, and outlets with USB ports / complimentary Wi-Fi in lobby space.”
• “Craft Bar and Lounge, welcome center, and large scoreboard like video screen.”
• “DMC / 3rd Party Incentives program.”
• “Guest Service Ambassadors deployed in the lobby fully integrated into event
management systems.”
• “Integration of event related social media feeds into our existing meeting room signs.”
• “Launched events that are owned by the center.”
• “Price policy: all-inclusive packages.”
• “We moved the arrival process to our parking garage with our event services team now
covering the parking garage. Upon arrival guests are welcomed and advised what room
their event is taking place in while paying for their parking.”
Summary
• Attendee experience
• Meeting rooms
• Wi-Fi
• Pricing, business models
Venues: Biggest Challenges, Select Responses
• “Cost and time of implementation.”
• “Financing and proving ROI.”
• “Implementation, and gaining support for much-needed change.”
• “Lack of resources, changing staff culture.”
• “Overcoming internal resistance.”
• “Rapid change in options.”
• “Getting clients to accept and invest in new ideas.”
• “Revenues to support the innovation.”
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Venues: Areas that Need More Innovation, Select Responses
• “Enhancing the experience of the attendee from every aspect... arrival until departure.”
• “Client experience. Creation of an environment that promotes all of the
communications, i.e., the formal meeting and the spontaneous discussion that happens
in the public space.”
• “Capturing information related to attendee demographics and event behavior such as
exhibit floor traffic patterns.”
• “Ideas that can lower costs for our clients without negatively impacting our bottom line
or ideas that create additional revenue sources.”
• “Diversification of revenue streams to reduce reliance on event-driven revenue as the
sole operating revenue source.”
• “Economic impact studies, visitor studies, hotel room night counts and out of block
dynamics.”
• “Revenue sharing.”
• “Business model.” 19
Summary
• Quantifying value
• Enhancing experience
• Costs
• Business models
• New revenue streams
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Survey Question: Do you consider industry innovation today to
be mainly technology-based?
Event Producers Venue Managers
Events are more data-driven.
Venues are more service focused.
Recommendations: How to Generate Impactful Ideas
• Have a strategy.
• Focus on getting the most out of staff discussions.
• Ensure you are asking the right attendee and exhibitor survey questions.
• Use attendee and exhibitor advisory boards for idea feedback.
• Pull together the full range of internal and external sources for ideas and data.
• Attend two or three events in other sectors that have a reputation for innovation.
• Prioritize your ideas and opportunities.
• Less is more – focus on implementing your highest priority opportunities.
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Recommendations: Implementation
• Have a detailed but flexible plan for each new idea and innovation.
• Identify what success will look like, and how you will measure success.
• Draft the schedule to implement with key milestones.
• Develop a communications plan, internal and external.
• Assign a project leader. A team is important but an “innovation owner” is important.
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Conclusion
Innovation is most often
Incremental.
Event producers say
generating new ideas is a
little harder than venues.
At major events and venues
the Experience is Everything.
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